The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #169855   Message #4106908
Posted By: Steve Gardham
21-May-21 - 05:55 PM
Thread Name: Tune Req: Trad. English tune for Little Musgrave?
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Trad. English tune for Little Musgrave?
The only Bagford Collection I know of consists of broadsides only, without tunes. However that doesn't mean there aren't any tunes in there. Where is the Bagford Collection held? UCSB might give us some clues. Roxburghe is in the BL, duplicated on UCSB. Chappell is not infallible, by the way.

The ballad was one of the most printed pieces in the 17th century. Just about all of the major printers had it, and in the most common form of 34 stanzas/17 doubles it carried on into the mid 18th century.

In Ebsworth's Roxburghe Ballads Vol 6 he gives several texts from the 17th century. On p633 he gives a version 'To an Excellent New Tune' In brackets after it Ebsworth put 'See Popular Music p170'.

What is very curious is that Simpson gives no mention of the ballad.